The Biggest Liquid Biopsy Company Files for IPO
We’re not sure about other countries out there, but here in ‘Murica “curing cancer” is kind of a big deal. Everyone seems to think that there’s some magical potion that cures cancer. Some people think the “cure for cancer” is being hidden by “big pharma” so they can make billions of dollars on cancer treatments. The truth isn’t what most people think though.
The cure for cancer is early detection, something we elaborated upon in our article on how Early Detection of Breast Cancer Cures Breast Cancer. The vast majority of breast cancer cases could be “cured” if they were detected at the earliest stages. Eventually, you will have a smart toilet that detects cancer in your urine stream and then communicates with your smart fridge so that your morning smoothie sorts you right out. We’re a long way from that today with our primitive “feel for lumps” detection methods, and it’s time we adopted something with more sensitivity than someone’s fingertips.
The basic idea of cancer is that cells start multiplying uncontrollably until there’s an actual tumor that can be seen with the naked eye, at which point in time we do something very primitive. The doctor cuts open the person and then cuts a piece of the tumor off so it can be examined for cancer. It’s called a biopsy, and it’s as primitive as feeling for lumps. Biopsies cost lots of money to perform, especially when the tumor is benign. In many cases, patients need to go in for multiple biopsies. Wouldn’t it be better if we had a blood test that we could use to detect the cancer? Well, we do. It’s called a liquid biopsy, and the company behind today’s best-selling liquid biopsy just filed for an IPO.
